Best Girl
by kitkatbar427
Summary: ONE SHOT Steve has a promise to keep and he owes his best girl a dance. Steve/Peggy, with cameos from Tony, Natasha, and Clint.


**A/N: This is set right after The Avengers and before The Winter Soldier. In this one shot, Natasha knows who Peggy Carter is, it always bothered me a bit that she didn't know who she was in Winter Soldier. Peggy started SHIELD, the organization Natasha works for, she would know. Anyways, enjoy! Comment, favorite, follow, etc. I always love hearing feedback!**

The smooth jazz music played softly in the background and the soft rain falling outside made the zooming cars go by in a blur. Steve stared out the window and tried to let the music ease his nerves. He kept absent mindedly playing with the cellophane holding the bouquet of spring flowers together.

"Could you stop being so nervous?" Tony said from the seat next to him as he shifted driving on the highway.

"He does that, it's one of his twitches, fiddles with his fingers when he's nervous. Comes from your days of drawing right?" Natasha said from the backseat.

Steve just nodded his head and ignored the two of them. He knew this moment was big and going to be tough but he needed to focus on the positive, he's was going to see his best girl again.

It wasn't going to be the same since the last time he saw her, he knew that and had mentally prepared himself for that but he really wanted to see her, before…He didn't want to think about that.

"You are going to be fine, just stop being so nervous. She will be so happy to see you," Tony reassured him. This was all actually Tony and Natasha just jumped on the band wagon, trying to be a good friend. It was after the battle of New York, a few weeks later when Steve went to visit Tony and the gang for lunch near the Tower and he mentioned how he wanted to see Peggy. Tony immediately jumped at the idea of setting it up.

Tony had been kind of the overseer of Peggy over the past few years. Tony filled Steve in on her life that he had missed. He told him about how Peggy had started SHIELD with his father Howard; that had actually been the push for him to officially join SHIELD, knowing his two close friends had started it all. He went on to tell him how Peggy had finally moved on, with a man he had saved no doubt and they had a few children and lived a comfortable life in NYC. Tony recalled 'Aunt Peg' as he called her visiting a lot when he was a kid and he even dated one of her daughters, but that didn't last long. It wasn't until after Howard and her husband had died, that Peggy really started to go downhill and Tony took over checking in on her with her kids and family. Her kids though a few years back had moved on, one in London and the other living in San Francisco, she had some family on the East coast, but not many who would visit or call often, her children called every day but her dementia had started to set in.

Tony then talked to her family and they all agreed to put her in a government and SHIELD funded home in Washington DC. Tony makes great efforts to see her at least once a month and he usually visited up to three times a month, detouring to DC between work. She lately had started calling him Howard at times when her dementia would really affect her but then would snap out of it pretty quickly. The doctors had recently diagnosed that her Dementia was getting worse and within a few years would fully take over. So Steve knew if he could do anything, was to see her before she lost her precious memories.

"_Peggy would be thrilled and so happy to see you, I think it would jog her memories a bit too and be really good for her," Tony complimented at lunch that day._

"_What were you thinking of doing?" Clint asked as he sipped on his beer with one arm slung over Natasha's chair next to him._

"_I don't know, just seeing her. I owe her a date and a dance." Steve fiddled with his napkin between his fingers._

"_You have unfinished business and will feel better if you see her?" Natasha mused._

"_Yeah, pretty much." _

"_Her kids know about you, they grew up with stories of the great Captain America and I'm sure; now that the papers know you are alive and fighting aliens in New York; that they would love to hear that you went to see their mom. James, her eldest is coming back from London in two weeks and I think you should meet him." _

"_I don't know Tony…"_

"_Seriously, he would love to meet you," Tony implored and Steve just nodded his head. _

"_So you owe her a dance huh?" Natasha smiled from across the table, "Do you even know how to dance?"_

"_No. I was always waiting for the right partner," He said a slight blush in his cheeks._

"_Well, good thing I studied dance in Russia, I could teach you so you can have a good dance with your right partner." She said and Steve smiled at her._

"_Thank you."_

That lunch seemed like ages ago, but in reality it was only a week before. Steve met Natasha at a dance studio in Brooklyn late at night every night that week and she taught him the basics of what he needed to know so he wouldn't step on Peggy's delicate feet.

"We're here!" Tony announced as they pulled into a quaint little cottage. It was a private estate outside of DC and there was only two other cars in the grassy drive.

"Who else is here?" Steve asked as he got out in the misting rain.

"Those are Peggy's on call SHIELD Physician and Nurse. Her nurse lives on the second floor on the cottage and the doctor has an apartment in the guest house."

Steve nodded his head, "They don't mind us stopping by?"

"Not at all, the Doctor said he'd be out of the way and the nurse would be upstairs if we needed her."

"And I'm going to stay outside for protection." Natasha said and she stood by the car.

Steve took a deep breath in and walked in behind Tony who had a key for the place. The nurse was a mid-40's looking woman who came out from the kitchen and smiled brightly when she saw Tony.

"I'm so glad you are here." She said embracing him in a hug, "Peggy has been worried about you ever since I told her about the attack on New York."

"You didn't mention…" He gestured toward Steve and the nurse's eyes went wide.

"No, I did not." She said breathlessly, "So it's true. You look like you just stepped out of your campaign poster."

"What can I say, ice does wonders?" Steve nervously joked and Tony gave a snort and the Nurse gave a little chuckle.

"Well, go right on in and see her, she just woke up from her nap." She gestured towards the bedroom down the hall and Tony headed down first and Steve went to stand by the door, out of sight until the moment and time were ready.

"Hi Peggy!"

"Tony! I'm so glad to see you okay! Grace told me all about that horrible attack on New York. Aliens! I never thought I would live to see the day that happened again."

"Oh the 70s, those were the days." Tony teased.

"So, how's Pepper?"

"She's fine, helping me repair my tower I had been building before the attack." Tony said, "Actually, I have a dear and very close friend of yours here to see you. He was a tremendous help during the battle in New York and he has been wanting to see you."

Steve took a deep breath and turned and walked in and felt the breath hitch in his throat and the tears threaten to fall. Peggy, strong, beautiful, and independent Peggy now laid propped up in her bed looking frail, tired, and still beautiful even with age. It was a hard adjustment at first but he felt the smile tug at his lips and the tears start to slowly fall down his face when Peggy turned her head and saw Steve standing in the doorway. Her eyes lit up and immediately started to well up with tears.

"Steve?" She asked as the sobs started to break through. "You're alive!"

"I couldn't leave my best girl, not when she owed me a dance." He said through his own tears and he walked towards her and put down the flowers on the foot of the bed and leaned over and hugged her close and kissed her cheek. "Hi Peggy."

"Oh Steve," She cried into his strong shoulder and holding onto him as if he was her life preserver in the water. "I can't believe it's really you."

"He's really here Peg and I'm going to leave you two alone." Tony said to reassure her and he got up and left.

For a few moments, they just sat in each other's arms crying and soaking in this moment. Then Steve went around to the chair Tony had been using and sat facing her and holding her hands in his. She asked how he survived and why he looked like he did the day he died. He then in return asked more about her life and what he had missed. The hours started to fly by and soon, dusk started to fall as the rain finally stopped and the sun was peeking out through the clouds.

A slow jazz tune started to play on Peggy's radio and Steve got up.

"I did owe you a dance didn't I?" He asked and Peggy nodded her head. He helped her out of the bed and found she was still quite strong and that made him swell with pride. Ever the strong willed woman. He took her in his arms and slowly danced with her in her room. She laid her head on his shoulder, in the crook of his neck and he felt the warm tears stain his shirt and he felt tears falling down his cheeks as well. This moment was perfect, a little late; but perfect.

As the song came to an end, Peggy leaned her head back and looked up at him and she smiled.

"Thanks for the dance," She said and a coughing fit took over and Steve carefully helped her back into bed and the nurse came in. She quickly checked her vitals and Steve saw her eyes glaze over and she looked at him and the surprise came back in and tears started to fall.

"Steve! You're alive!" She said again and Steve sighed and tried hard to contain the tears. Her dementia had taken over and the moment they shared went by in an instant.

"Yeah Peggy, I'm here. I came back."

"I'm so happy to see you," She said.

"Steve, we need to get heading back to New York," Tony said gravely from the other end of the room. He saw the pain in Tony's eyes and knew he was doing what was best.

"I'm happy to see you two Peggy. I have to leave with Tony but I promise, I will come visit again, after all I owe my best girl a dance." He said and she gave a big smile and kissed his hands.

"I look forward to it." And with that Steve left with a heavy heart but felt a sense of relief, he fulfilled his promise and knew he was going to fulfill it again, until he couldn't anymore.

She will forever be his best girl who owed him a dance.


End file.
